Historic Shedhttps://historicshed.com
Custom Designed Garden Sheds, Garages and CottagesWed, 13 Dec 2017 22:43:57 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2Tropical Parking Attendant Shedhttps://historicshed.com/tropical-parking-attendant-shed/
https://historicshed.com/tropical-parking-attendant-shed/#respondMon, 13 Nov 2017 23:08:13 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=50393Historic Shed recently was able to put its mark on our own Hernando County by building a new 8’x8′ parking attendant shed for the Pine Island Beach Park. While Hernando County is located directly on the Gulf of Mexico, there are few public beaches, with Pine Island Park offering the only sandy Gulf beach. Therefore our little shack will be seen by many residents and visitors to Hernando County, particularly as Florida winter weather attracts northerners in the next couple of months. The island history is important in Hernando County history and some interesting background on the island and surrounding area can be read here in the Hernando Sun.

The Gulf is very shallow off Hernando County and while Pine Island is beautiful, it is more a wading beach than a swimming beach.

The birds really like the beach at Pine Island. I take a photo of the footprint patterns nearly every time I go there.

Here are some of the beach footprint makers: Black Skimmers

The small shed was placed on a concrete slab and the interior will be finished out by the county. The layout allows the parking attendant to take in the parking fee, while enjoying cool air from a ClimateRight 5000 BTU unit. The vibrant colors were chosen by County staff, who clearly had a really good time making their choices. The colors will compliment a new fence and playground equipment that are part of the overall park upgrades.

The shed’s vibrant colors now greet all visitors to the park. The cypress shutters are operable and allow the windows to be secured after hours and during storms. Hooks hold them open so that breezes won’t slam them shut.

Flood vents are located on two sides of the shed as it is located within a flood zone.

Shutters closed and latched. This is what shutters are designed to do.

The batten shutters really make a nice accent on the shed, as well as being functional.

]]>https://historicshed.com/tropical-parking-attendant-shed/feed/0Shingle Workshop Shedhttps://historicshed.com/shingle-workshop-shed/
https://historicshed.com/shingle-workshop-shed/#respondMon, 30 Oct 2017 21:48:07 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=50121We design a lot of custom sheds that complement historic bungalows, but most are commonly covered with lap or novelty siding. Recently we got a chance to built a slightly differently clad shed for a unique 1940s bungalow in New Port Richey. The house, and an existing garage on the lot are both covered completely in wood shingles, so we designed the new shed accordingly.

The cedar shingles made the shop smell so good!

Walls up and roof dried in.

The shed is designed for use as a workshop with a small door for every day use and a large one for bigger items. The windows on the side are double-hung, meaning that the top slides down and the bottom slides up.

]]>https://historicshed.com/shingle-workshop-shed/feed/0Hurricane Irma Updatehttps://historicshed.com/hurricane-irma-update/
https://historicshed.com/hurricane-irma-update/#commentsFri, 15 Sep 2017 14:44:00 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=47659Like our fellow Florida residents, we have been extra busy and anxious regarding Hurricane Irma for the past couple of weeks. With images from Hurricane Harvey’s impacts in Texas fresh in our minds, and constant news of the large size and tremendous wind speed of Irma, we were glued to the weather forecasts showing it heading up the east coast, or the middle of the state, or to our Gulf coast side, and being told it was going to impact us no matter where it hit Florida. The only questions in our minds were whether we expected three or twelve shingles to remain on our roof, and ankle deep or thigh deep flooding.

Along with constantly checking the forecast, first there was prepping our existing jobs for the impending storm (we currently have a large shingle-sided shed installation, a garage apartment and a historic renovation in Brooksville going on), then cleaning up our shop and boarding our home, which is located within a flood zone and ended up under mandatory evacuation orders, which we heeded.

The Historic Shed shop turned into too big of a project to prepare the way we’d like for the storm which has been a big lesson for us for future threats. We’ve nearly outgrown the shop building we’ve been in since 2007 and so we’ve had to store materials and equipment outside the main metal building. We have been building entire sheds outside under the front covered area and space is at a premium. Clean up pre-storm required removing a lot of cut-offs from siding to roof panels – things can really accumulate when you don’t stay on top of it – and trying to fit all the things that had moved outside the building back inside. Since school was cancelled for hurricane days, we even made our kids help get things ready. We made great progress, but weren’t as confident as we would have liked prior to the storm’s arrival that things would say put in the projected high winds.

Luckily, Hurricane Irma dropped to a Category 2 or even a 1 by the time it reached us here in Brooksville and we suffered no serious damage at our location and no items blew away (however, the City of Brooksville had lots of downed trees). The biggest hurdle has been not having any electricity at the shop since the storm, which makes it impossible to get much done in this age of power tools and internet communication, but it has also given us time to do necessary clean-up at the shop and at home. I think people with no AC and water in their homes are a bit more important than our shop anyway, so we have no problem being patient.

The display shed we keep out in front of the shop came through with flying colors and we have heard from several of our customers who have let us know that their sheds, garages, and cottages had no damage as well. We know that at least three cottages were occupied throughout the storm, each located in diverse areas of the state. The one exception was from an owner whose shed we installed just this summer on Anna Maria Island who sent a photo of a 2″ wide stick that penetrated his roof. It’s seeing things like this that make you realize the force of the winds during the storm.

We very much hope that each and every one of you impacted by the storm are safe and have had minimal damage. And that you have recovered from the anxiety as well.

This stick went though both the metal roof and the sheathing below. It’s a bit scary to see this impact!

]]>https://historicshed.com/hurricane-irma-update/feed/2She Sheds: Escapes for Womenhttps://historicshed.com/she-sheds-escapes-for-women/
https://historicshed.com/she-sheds-escapes-for-women/#respondFri, 23 Jun 2017 20:41:21 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=31232It seems like you can’t look at social media sites lately without seeing something about She Sheds, or accessory buildings designed for women to gather, create, relax, or escape for some solitude. Even the Today Show had a segment the other day about these accessory buildings designed as refuges for women. In our case, we have been asked to build She Shed type sheds for many uses, from artist studios to entertaining spaces. The buildings have been varied, the designs fun, and the women we’ve met have been incredibly interesting.

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou

]]>https://historicshed.com/she-sheds-escapes-for-women/feed/0Starlet Accessory Living Unithttps://historicshed.com/starlet-accessory-living-unit/
https://historicshed.com/starlet-accessory-living-unit/#commentsSat, 10 Jun 2017 22:20:25 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=23705Last fall we were approached by a woman who was interested in building a cottage in her son’s back yard in St. Petersburg. We looked through the local zoning regulations and found that the property allowed for Accessory Living Units (ALUs), but not Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The difference between the two in St. Petersburg zoning was that she could build a cottage, but would not be allowed to have a full kitchen with an oven. Other areas of St. Petersburg, mostly in the historic neighborhoods closer to downtown, do allow full cottages with full kitchens (ADUs).

When considering a secondary dwelling behind an existing home (carriage house, in law suite, granny pod, guest cottage, rental cottage, etc.), always check local zoning regulations first as it will tell you if you can build an accessory dwelling unit, if it can have a kitchen, where it can placed (setbacks), and if there are any size limitations. Most communities have their zoning regulations available online at: https://library.municode.com/fl and offer a myriad of information on what can be built where.

For this project, we adapted our 14’x16′ Starlet Cottage plan for our customer’s use, turning the kitchenette area into a walk-in closet and adding a roof extension over the front door to create a porch seating area. The end result is a comfortable and nicely appointed cottage. See details here, although the closet and bath ultimately were reversed: Starlet Cottage Plan In addition to meeting the zoning requirements, the cottage meets all Florida Building Codes and is legal for full time living.

The front gable roof was extended to 4′ to create a covered seating area.

The 224 sf cottage is set on a concrete slab so she wouldn’t have to deal with stairs.

The cottage interior under construction – bath on the right, closet on the left, storage loft above.

The front area of the cottage is an open room with cathedral ceiling and a storage shelf along the top of the wall.

A small seating area fits nicely along the side wall. The flooring is ceramic tile with a weathered wood look.

While the cottage was not allowed a stove/ oven, there is room for a small refrigerator and microwave.

The bath meets Florida Building Code requirements and includes a nice sized shower. A tankless water heater is located in the adjacent closet.

The cottage was designed with a windowless wall so that the owner could install this lovely Tuscany scene.

Once the landscaping goes in, this custom Starlet Cottage will be quite pleasant.

]]>https://historicshed.com/starlet-accessory-living-unit/feed/2Coastal Breeze Snack Shackhttps://historicshed.com/coastal-breeze-snack-shack/
https://historicshed.com/coastal-breeze-snack-shack/#commentsTue, 02 May 2017 19:12:02 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=6553The shed that gets the most “oohs” and “aahs” when we are out at shows is definitely the Snack Shack we built in Palm Harbor a few years ago. Painted in fun colors, it conjures up sunny days with umbrella adorned drinks in hand. With our latest Coastal Breeze Snack Shack, I think we have another ideal tropical back yard, and this one is available as a vacation rental.

Installing the Coastal Breeze Snack Shack

The bar features two awning shutters that open for cocktail hour. The front 4′ of the shed is used for the bar, the rear is for storage. The bar has a 4′ covered porch deck.

The 12’x14′ Snack Shack Pub Shed nestles nicely by the pool.

A view from the yard looks rather inviting.

The shed is designed to complement the house and the yard.

The homeowners had to make sure it worked. The inside of the bar was finished with tongue and groove pine.

12’x14′ Historic Shed Snack Shack Shed ready for company!

]]>https://historicshed.com/coastal-breeze-snack-shack/feed/2Period Inspired Kitchens for Historic Homeshttps://historicshed.com/period-inspired-kitchens-for-historic-homes/
https://historicshed.com/period-inspired-kitchens-for-historic-homes/#respondTue, 14 Feb 2017 17:41:28 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=6463This is the slideshow created for a talk I did at the 2017 Historic Homes Workshop in Tampa. The subject was designing a modern kitchen for historic homes, with an emphasis on 1920s era inspired kitchens as that is the time period reflected in many Florida neighborhoods. The slideshow is missing my witty commentary, but the images should still be interesting.

]]>https://historicshed.com/period-inspired-kitchens-for-historic-homes/feed/0A Customer Finished Historic Shedhttps://historicshed.com/a-customer-finished-historic-shed/
https://historicshed.com/a-customer-finished-historic-shed/#commentsSun, 29 Jan 2017 19:18:02 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=6436We are often asked if we can provide just a building shell that the owner can then finish out on their own. The answer is, of course, “Yes!” We don’t often get to see the end results, but one of our historic homeowner customers recently sent us some photos showing how wonderful his new space is.

The 12’x16′ shed was designed to complement the main house in the East Lake Morton Historic District in Lakeland.

The shed seen shortly after Historic Shed finished installation.

The homeowner built a wood deck in front of the shed and made it look “oh so homey”.

The cozy inside features a futon sofa and a 3/4 bath behind the louvered doors.

The interior also has a storage shelf at the gable ends and a small kitchenette.

Several years ago I was contacted by a woman who was in the process of buying a house in the historic Gillespie Park neighborhood in Sarasota. The 1920s house came with a detached garage in not-so-great shape, placed awkwardly in the middle of the yard and she wanted to replace it. Then she had a few big life changes, including moving out of the country, and the plans for the garage were put on hold. When she called back last year, she no longer wanted to just replace the garage. Instead, since the main house was being used as a vacation rental, they wanted to add a garage apartment that could also be rented out. Historic Shed™ designed a two-story, two car garage apartment with details that complemented the main house with a one bedroom, one bath layout. We also included a large porch for a private sitting area for visitors, accessed by an exterior stair. The cottage is available for rent at: https://www.vrbo.com/811457 So far, it has some rave reviews.

]]>https://historicshed.com/tangerine-dream-carriage-house/feed/4Historic Shed Chicken Coophttps://historicshed.com/historic-shed-chicken-coop/
https://historicshed.com/historic-shed-chicken-coop/#commentsThu, 22 Dec 2016 20:05:44 +0000https://historicshed.com/?p=6240Last year we built a storage shed for a south Tampa customer with a transom over the front door. Recently, he called us again asking if we had ever built a chicken coop since he wanted one that matched his house and shed. Our response was, “No, but we designed a nice one that we had intended as a prototype but haven’t gotten around to building.” With a few tweaks to the design, he ordered the coop and we set to building.

Chicken Coop Elevations

The new coop consists of a 4’x6′ elevated hen house with a 6’x8′ screened yard. the screened yard was set on 4×6 rails recessed partially below grade.

The screened yard has a full height access door.

The nesting box has a hinged door to access eggs.

The nesting box is subdivided.

A pair of doors allow access to the hen house for cleaning.

A ladder inside provides a nesting perch for the chickens to rest.

The new coop sits next to the shed Historic Shed built for the same owner.

The chickens had not moved in yet when our installation guys finished, so we will wait to hear how the future inhabitants like their new home. For now, we have to settle for it looking nice in the yard.

Many thanks to the backyardchickens.com website for providing a wealth of knowledge as we designed and built the coop.